Yay! The cocoa canela did the trick..I am now much more awake,and decided to tackle using my gaiwan! I ordered the tall pond gaiwan from Verdant as I have super small hands and would probably fail at using a regular gaiwan. Anyways, this one is super cute, 4 oz capacity I think. I watched David’s video on how to pour from a gaiwan and it was very helpful. I even practised a few times with just water to try to get the hang of it lol. I must say, my hands are almost too small for even this tiny gaiwan. But onto the tea I have brewed with it!

The tea I made is actually the fall/winter version, not the latest spring, although I did get that in the TOMC today as well. But I need to drink this one a bit first, I have a full bag of it! So my unorthodox, inexperience gaiwanry resulted in not much spillage, but a few more leaves in the cup than I would have wanted lol, so I fished them out with a spoon, although I know you can make this tea in a glass with the leaves just chilling in there, so I wasn’t too concerned. But I didn’t spill much! Hooray! I don’t think my steeping was quite 3 seconds lol, as I had to put the kettle back and the lid on before attempting to pour it..but the cup is pretty good nonetheless!

I can’t remember if I’ve reviewed this tea before, but I quite enjoyed it, apart from the one time I miserably overleafed and it was rather bitter. However, today, man, this is sooo lovely. Even though it’s not the spring batch, I am feeling the spring with this cup. Lightly vegetal, with a sparkly note of something delicious, something a tiny bit sweet. It reminds me of the rain outside on the fresh green leaves, all perky and cool and fresh.

Overall, a delicious tea. I will continue to use my gaiwan this afternoon for a few more steeps of this, and I will probably try another tea as well today, maybe a new spring one, or my beloved Eight Treasures Yabao, which also arrived today. NEWTEA/TEAWAREOVERLOAD! :D what a good start to the weekend!

ETA – Second attempt: Less leaves in cup, but more spillage on the plate I put under my teacup lol. Practice makes perfect, I will find the balance!

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Hello all, I am an electrical engineer (read:NERD :D), who is a bit obsessed with tea! I discovered loose tea in 2011, DAVIDsTEA in 2012 and it took off from there. I really started drinking/enjoying tea because it was excellent to take to class in the morning and because I can’t handle coffee! (unless it’s a really good cappuccino or latte, or decent decaf haha)

I enjoy a variety of teas – current favorites being ripe and raw pu’erhs, chinese black teas and herbal/green rooibos blends. I also enjoy white, green, and oolong teas, although I tend to drink them more in the warmer months. I have also tried matcha and guayusa, but I don’t drink them too often as I am a bit sensitive to caffeine. As a result I don’t drink black teas as often as I used to, but in moderation I can still enjoy a wide variety of teas.

Oh, and I have a severe peanut allergy and try to avoid most other nuts, just to be safe. Limits my tea choices a bit, but that’s ok. However I have tried almonds and found out I can eat them, so I have been trying a few teas with them in them.

MissLena’s rating system
(as of 04/19/13)

95+: Absolute favorite, will try to always have it in stock, and when I don’t I pine over it!90-94: Awesome teas, will probably purchase again a few times80-89: Very good tea, may restock at some point70-79: happy to have tried and will gladly finish, but not restock60-69: not horrible, but not the best, will finish if I have some though50-59: not a favorite, probably will have a tough time finishing the bag-50: yuck. I don’t want to have it ever again.